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The Lost Cosmonauts of the USSR Are still Out There
The Lost Cosmonauts of the USSR are still Out There
Conquering space came at a great cost. While those that have died trying to claim the heavens are tooted as heroes—and for good reason—there are some whose names are never sung despite the fact that their frozen remains are probably hurtling through space in derelict capsules. They are the phantom cosmonauts of the USSR.
At the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in a competition to become the first to overcome the final frontier.
But while the American public had more or less access to the details of the Space Race, the Soviets kept a tight lid on most of their missions. But despite their secrecy, information has managed to leak out and it doesn’t paint a pretty picture.
There are sources who suggest that the early missions of the Soviet space program experienced catastrophic failures that resulted in loss of life. According to this theory, some of the cosmonauts made it to outer space but never made it back.
The story begins with two Italian brothers, Giovanni and Achille Judica-Cordiglia. The two amateur radio operators had a passion for picking up radio transmissions between cosmonauts and the Soviet ground control. Using a basic setup, the Cordiglia brothers had managed to intercept signals sent by the Sputnik satellite and even eavesdrop on Laika, the canine explorer aboard Sputnik II.
On November 28, 1960, the Cordiglia Bros. tuned into a Soviet frequency and picked up what sounded like an SOS signal coming from beyond Earth. They listened as the signal weakened and eventually stopped altogether. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the SOS signal was that it registered almost no speed relative to the Earth; combined with the gradual weakening of the signal, this suggests that the source was moving away from Earth.
Giovanni and his brother believed they had just picked up on the distress signal of a desperate cosmonaut whose capsule had overshot the Earth’s orbit and was slowly drifting away into space.
The following year, they detected another Soviet transmission which sounded like the strained breathing and irregular heartbeat of an unconscious man. They showed the recording to their father, a cardiologist, who believed that they had heard a man suffocating and suffering cardiac arrest.
The Judica-Cordiglia brothers released a total of nine recordings over a period of four years. One of them stands out in particular.
Recorded in May 1961, the dramatic transmission features the panicked voice of a woman who was documenting her last minutes alive as her capsule burned up during reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. At first she seems levelheaded but as the transmission continues, she begins to panic and her voice becomes more distraught. Here is the transcript and below you will find the transmission itself:
five…four…three…two…one…one…two…three…four…five
come in…come in…come in…
Listen!…Listen…COME IN!…COME IN!…COME IN!…Talk to me!
TALK TO ME!…I am hot!…I AM HOT!
What?…Forty-five?…WHAT?…
FORTY-FIVE?…FIFTY?…
YES…YES…YES…BREATHING…
BREATHING…OXYGEN…OXYGEN…
I AM HOT…(THIS)…
ISN’T THIS DANGEROUS?…IT’S ALL…
ISN’T THIS DANGEROUS?…IT’S ALL…
YES…YES…YES…HOW IS THIS?…
WHAT?…TALK TO ME!…HOW SHOULD I TRANSMIT?…
YES…YES…WHAT?…
OUR TRANSMISSION BEGINS NOW…
FORTY-ONE…THIS WAY…OUR TRANSMISSION BEGINS NOW…
FORTY-ONE…THIS WAY…OUR TRANSMISSION BEGINS NOW…
FORTY-ONE…YES…I FEEL HOT…I FEEL HOT…
IT’S ALL…IT’S HOT…I FEEL HOT…I FEEL HOT…
I CAN SEE A FLAME!…WHAT?…
I CAN SEE A FLAME!…I CAN SEE A FLAME!…
I FEEL HOT…I FEEL HOT…THIRTY-TWO…
THIRTY-TWO…FORTY-ONE…FORTY-ONE…
AM I GOING TO CRASH?…YES…YES…I FEEL HOT!…
I FEEL HOT!…I WILL REENTER!…I WILL REENTER…
I AM LISTENING!…I FEEL HOT…
end transmission”
While some question the veridity of the Cordiglia brothers’ recordings, there are many who believe the two radio enthusiasts provided irrefutable proof concerning the secret Soviet casualties of the Space Race. According to proponents of the phantom cosmonaut theory, as many as eleven men and women died in outer space or during reentry.
The Soviet Union dismissed the theory but with all the secrecy surrounding their space program, we have to conclude that there might be some truth behind these allegations. Unfortunately, the evidence—if there is any indeed—now rests in cold metal caskets drifting aimlessly through space. Will they ever be found and given proper recognition?
Source: http://locklip.com/
“…and even eavesdrop on Laika, the canine explorer aboard Sputnik II.”
I’d be fascinated to hear what the dog had to say….